Sheet feeding and severing mechanism



Feb. 14; 1928.- 1,659,069

' J. P. ALDRICH ET AL SHEET FEEDING, AND SEVER ING MECHANISM Filed July l8, 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet l 1 gwuenfoz @QM Feb. 14, 1928. 1,659,069

J. P. ALDRICH ET AL SHEET FEEDING AND S EVERING MECHANISM Filed July 8, 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 PETE Feb. 14, 1928.

J. P. ALDRICH ET AL SHEET FEEDLNQ AND SEVERING MECHANISM Filed July l8, 1924 s Sheets-Sheet s Feb. 14, 1928.

- 1,659,069 J. P. ALDRICH ET AL I SHEET FEEDING AND SEVERING MECHANISM Filed July l8. 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 liiiiiiiim III III niiiiiu gnvmlluq, m @W M Q.%0w,

J. P. ALDRICH ET AL SHEET FEEDING AND SEVERING MECHANISM Feb. 14, 1928.

Filed July l8, l924 5 Sheets-Sheet Patented Feb. 14, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- JOHN P. ALDRICH' AND HOWARD A. MORRIS, OF TOLEDO,.OHIO, ASSIGNORS TO THE AUTOMAT MOLDING & FOLDING COMPANY, OF TOLEDO, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

SHEET FEEDING AND SEVERING MECHANISM.

Application filed July 18,

This invention relates to apparatus for use parti'cularly in connection with article wrapping machines for feeding wrapping material in continuous stri form from one or more rolls and successively severing the same into sections of predetermined length and feeding such sections to article wrapping position; and it has for its object the provision of a simple, efficient and positively operating apparatus of this character, whereby to enhance the practicability and commercial value thereof.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description.

While the inventionin its broaderaspeet is capable of embodiment in numerous forms, a preferred embodiment thereof is illustrated in the accompanying drawings,

in which,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of an apparatus embodying the invention, with a part of the supporting frame broken away. Fig. 2 is a different elevation thereof, with parts broken away. Fig. 3 is an enlarged section on the line 33 in Fig. 2 with the sheet severing and intermittent feeding means in inoperative relation. Fig. 4 is a similar view thereof with the sheet severing and intermittent feeding means in operative position. Fig. 5 is an enlarged section taken through the sheet severing and intermittent feeding means, with parts in severing and feeding relation. Fig. 6 is an enlarged section on the dotted line 6 in Fig. 2, and Fig. 7 is a diagram of a portion of the sheet feeding and severing means.

Referring to the drawings, 1, 1 designate the top side bars of a wrapping machine frame, and 2, 2 frame standards mounted on and rising in opposed relation from the bars 1 at a point on the machine where it is desired to feed the wrapping sheets thereto.

Each standard 2 has two bearing arms 3 and 4 projecting upward from its upper end in spaced relation lengthwise of the machine, the arms 3 of the two standards forming bearings for opposite ends of a paper roll carrying shaft 5 and the arms 1 forming bearings for the opposite ends of apaper roll carrying shaft 6. The shafts 5 and 6 are adapted to have respective rolls 7 and 8 of wrapping material mounted thereon to turn therewith in any suitable manner, as

1924. Serial No. 726,678.

well understood in the art. The roll 7, in the present instance, is of waxed paper and the roll 8 is of what is commonly referred to as parchment. In wrapping some articles, butter for instance, it is desirable to provide both waxed and parchment wrapping sheets, one being wrapped within the other, and for this reason two rolls are shown. It will be understood, however, that so far as the features of the invention are concerned, it is immaterial Whether one or more rolls of wrapping material are employed. The shafts 5 and 6 are frictionally held by any suitable adjusting means to resist a free turning thereof.

The sheet material 9 forming the roll 7 passes down around a guide bar 10 carried by and disposed between the upper portions of the two frame standards 2 and then passes down between a pair of feed rolls 11, the shafts 12 of which are journaled in the respective standards 2 in horizontally spaced relation.

The material 13 from the roll 8' passes down around a guide bar 14 carried by and disposed between the upper portions of the two frame standards 2 and then passes down between the feed rolls 11 with the sheet 9. The feed rolls 11 are driven at continuous uniform speed, as hereinafter described.

The sheets 9 and 13, after leaving the feed rolls 11, enter between a pair of subj'acent severing rolls 15, the shafts 16 of which are journaled in horizontally spaced relation in the respective standards 2. The rolls 15 are intended to be driven twice as fast as the feed rolls 11 and are not intended to have peripheral feeding engagement 'with the sheets being acted on. The rolls 15, or at least one of them, is hollow to carry a sheet severing knife 17 therein lengthwise thereof with the cutting edge of the knife working through a registering slot 18 in the circumferential drum wall (see Fig. 5) and adapted to enter a registering recess 19 in the peripheral portion of the other drum during a sheet severing operation. The plate 17 is carried by a shaft 20 in radial relation to the associated drum axis, said shaft extending throughout the length of the drum with its ends projecting through openings 21 in the respective end walls of the drum and being mounted without the ends of the drum levers 22 intermediate their ends. One of these levers is disposed at each end of the knife carrying drum 15 and is fulcrumed to a. bearing stud 23 secured to the adjacent druIn end.. This stud forms an eccentric bearing for the lever which is rotatable with respect to the drum to facilitate adjustment of the fulcrumed axis of the lever as shown by .dotted lines in Fig. 3. Each lever 22 extends across the associated end of the drum at one side of the drumaxis, and at its free end or that opposed to its fulcrum 23 is pivoted to a plunger rod 24 which passes through a socketed boss 25 for longitudinal movements relative thereto at substantiall a right angle to the lever. The boss 25 1s fixed to the adjacent end of the drum 15 to turn therewith and encloses a coiled compression spring 26 (Fig. 5), one end thrust of which is against a shoulder 27 at the inner end of the rod 24 while its other end thrust is against the end of the boss socket in which disposed. The outer ends of the rods 24 are provided with adjustable stops 28 without the respective bosses 25 for coaction therewith to limit the spring actuated movements of the rods. The cutting edge of the late 17 is normally caused to project beyon the periphery of the associated drum into sheet cutting position by the action of the springs 26.

The drive means for the feed drums 11 and severing drums 15 includes a main drive shaft 30, which is journaled in the standards 2 between said pairs of drums at the side of the feeding sheets with the knife carrying drum, said shaft projecting at one end without the adjacent frame standard and carrying a clutch controlled drive sprocket 31 for connection with any suitable source of power;

32 is the clutch control rod for the drive means. The shaft 30 carries a main drive gear 33, which'drives a pinion 34 on the inner end of a short shaft 35 journaled in one of the frame standards 2 and carries at its outer end a pinion 36 which drives a gear 37 on one of the feed drum shafts 12, which shafts are in turn connected by a pair of meshing gears 38. The pinion 34 meshes with and drives a pinion 39 on one of the drum shafts 16 and these shafts are in turn connected b a pair of gears 40. The gearing is such that the feed drums 11 are driven at one-half the speed of the severing drums 15. In order that the faster moving drums 15 may not interfere with the speed of feeding of the sheets by the feed drums 11, the

peripheries of the drums 15 do not have feeding contact with the sheets.

In practice the feeding sheet is intended to have a wrapping section severed therefrom by the knife 17 at each second revolution of the knife with the carrying roll 15 and at each single revolution of the feed rolls 11. In order to prevent a severing of the sheet at each revolution of the knife 17, it is neceswhich one end of 'a lever arm 43 is mounted whereby such end of the lever has a rocking movement imparted thereto by the eccentric at each revolution of the shaft. Each lever 43 extends downward a distance from the shaft 30 past the rolls 15 and is fulcrumed at its lower end to an arm 44 projecting transversely from a shaft 45 journaled at its ends in bearings in the frame standards 2. Each lever 43 has a curved portion 46 disposed at the inner side of the knife carryin roll 15 in slightly spaced relation to its en and in substantially concentric relation to the roll axis and adapted to be en aged by and form a raceway for a roller 4 carried by the adjacent end of the knife carrying shaft 20 without the end of the drum 15. During the first revolution of the drums 15 during the feeding of a length of material, preparatory to being severed, the upper ends of the levers 43 are rocked to the left or toward the axis of the knife carrying drum by the action of the eccentrics 42 so that as the knife traverses the inner half or paper severing portion of its movement with the drum 15 it is caused to be retracted from paper severing position by the riding of the rollers 47 on the curved raceways 46 of the levers, as shown in Fig. 4, the springs 26 compressing to permit such movement. During the next revolution of the'drums 15 the eccentrics 42 have moved to position to effect a shifting of the knife retracting levers43 to the right, thereby permitting the knife under the action of the springs 26 to project from the periphery of the carrying drum 15 and to have sheet severing coaction with the recess 19 of the other drum 15.

A pair of feed rolls 50 for the severed sections are disposed below the severing rolls 15 and are adapted to engage the severed section immediately after the severing action and advance it to wrapping position at a speed, in the present instance, twice that of the feeding movement of the sheets from which severed. The rolls 50 are carried by shafts 51, the ends of which are journa'led in the side standards 2 'and these shafts carry meshing gears 52 of the same size as the gears 40 and driven by a connecting pinion 53 between two of the gears 40 and 52. The rolls 50, therefore, in the present instance, are driven at the same speed as the rolls 15 and at twice the speed of the sheet feeding rolls 11. The feed rolls 50 are intended to have feeding coaction with a sheet section only during every second revolution thereof or during the sheet severing revolution only of the rolls 15. For this reason each lever 43 is provided with an arm 54 carrying a roller 55 in engagement with the inner side of the respective hub portion 56 of one of the rolls 50, so that the rocking movements of the levers 40, which cause a retraction of the severing knlfe, will also impart an outward movement to the engaged roll 50 to prevent its feeding engagement with the material feeding between the two rolls 50. To permit such outward movement of the laterally movable roll 50, its shaft ends are journaled in bearing boxes 57, which are laterally shiftable in guide-ways 58 of the frame standards and are normally moved inward to cause a feeding coaction of the two rolls 50 by the action of coiled compression springs 59 (see Fig. 6) thereon.

During a section feeding revolution of the feed rolls 50, it is desirable to have said rolls in feeding coaction with the sheet only during a portion of such revolution, and for this reason each roll has a concentric peripheral projecting or sheet engaging portion a and a reduced peripheral portion 1). The feed portions a of the two rolls are so positioned that the forward ends thereof, relative to the direction of movement of the rolls, move into gripping or feeding engage ment with a sheet section when the section is being severed from the sheet, as shown in Fig. 3, so that immediately after the severing the feeding action of the rolls 15 advances the severed section quickly to article wrapping position in the associated machine, the rear ends of the projecting roll portions a passing from engagement with and releasing the feeding action of the rolls 50 on the wrapper section when it has been moved to article wrapping position. The severed wrapper sections are guided in their movements to article wrapping position by guide members 60 disposed at the front and rear of the section, and the sections are stopped in their feeding movements and supported in article wrapping position by fingers 61, as well understood in the art.

The knife carrying shaft 20 is preferably cut away at the side thereof, carrying the knife so that the knife is secured in substantially diametrical relation, as shown in Fig. 5. The knife is secured to the flatside of the shaft by screws 62, the heads of which are accessible from without the drum through openings 63 in the drum periphery.

In'the use of the sheet feeding and severing apparatus described, the set ofsheets to be acted on are unwound from the supply rolls and fed down by the feed rolls 11 be-.

tween the severing rolls 15, the speed of driving of the severing rolls 15 being twice as fast as the speed of driving of the drive shaft 30 and of the feeding rolls 11. The severing knife 17 is normally projected from the periphery of its carrying roll 15 by the action of the springs 26, and during the first revolution of each of the rolls 15 with respect to the feeding of a predetermined length of the wrapping material to severing position the knife is retracted from severing position with respect to its drum by the engagement of the rollers 47 on the ends of. the knife shaft with the retracting levers 43, which are then at the left-hand points of their rocking movements due to the movement of the coacting eccentrics 42 to the lefthand side of the shaft 30, as shown in Fig. 4. During the next rotation of the rolls 15 the eccentrics 42 will move to the right-hand position, shown in Fig. 3, carrying the levers 43 therewith out of knife retracting position and permitting the knife to project from the roll periphery and have severing engagement with the wrapping material in coaction with the opposed feed roll 15. Immediately upon the severing of the wrap er section from the feeding material, the orward ends of the enlarged portion a ofthe feed rolls 50 engage the section and advance it quickly, orfaster than the feeding movement of the sheets, to article wrapping position, the projections a of the rolls releasing the section when it has been moved substantially to wrapping position. During the idle rotation of the severing rolls 15, the feed rolls 50 are also idle due to the levers 43 acting on the left-hand roll 50 to release it from feeding engagement with the sheet during the first half of a revolution of the drive shaft 30 and during the period of release of the knife from severing position.

' It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to any specific construction, arrangement, or form of the parts, as it is capable of numerous modifications and changes without departing from the. spirit of the claims.

Having thus described the invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In combination, 'a continuous sheet feeding means, a mechanism for successively severing sections of predetermined length from the feeding sheet, said severing mechanlsm havin a severing member which makes a plura ity of revolutions during each a section feeding operation and having means automatically operable to prevent said memher from severing the sheet except during a predetermined revolution for feeding operation.

2. In combination, a continuous sheet feeding means, driving means for said sheetfeeding means, vsheet severing means having a knife movable relatively with respect to the rest of the severing means intermittently in and out of severing position, and means controlled and actuated by said driving means and intermittently operable render the severing means inoperative during predetermined feeding movements of the sheet.

3. In combination, a. continuous sheet each section feeding means, driving means for said sheet feeding means, a revoluble member having a severing element movable relatively thereto, and means controlled and actuated by said driving means and intern'iittently operable to render the said severing element inoperative except during one of each successive set of a plurality of revolutions of the member.

4. In combination, a continuous sheet feeding means, sheet severing means having a revoluble knife relatively movable with repeet to the rest of said severing means intermittently into and out of sheet severing position, and means automatically operable to prevent the knife from severing the sheet when in severing position, except at predetermined intervals.

5. In combination, a continuous sheet feeding means, severing means having opposed revoluble severing members normally operative to sever the sheet at each revolution of the members, and means operable in synchronized relation to the feeding means to act on one of said severing members and render it inoperative except at predetermined revolutions thereof.

6. In combination, a continuous sheet feeding means, a revoluble sheet severing member, means automatically operable to permit the said member to have severing coaction with the sheet only at predetermined revolutions of the severing member less than the whole member, and means for engaging each severed section immediately after severing and feeding it from the severing member at increased speed over the feeding of the sheet.

7. In combination, a continuous sheet feeding means, driving means for said sheet feeding means, a sheet severing means, means for feeding the severed sections from the severing means at an increased speed over the feeding of the sheet thereto, and means controlled and actuated by said driving means and intermittently operable to render the severing means and the section feeding means inoperative except at predetermined revolutions.

8. In combination, a continuous sheet feeding means, a sheet severing means having a revoluble knife, means for feeding a severed section from the severing means more rapidly than the sheet is fed thereto, and means automatically operable to render the knife of the severing means inoperative, except at spaced predetermined revolutions of the knife, and also to render the section feeding means inoperative, except for a predetermined period immediately after each severing operation.

9. In combination, a continuous sheet feeding means, a sheet severing means hav ing a revoluble knife, a member operable to act on the knife to prevent it from having severingcoaction with the sheet, and means driven in synchronized relation to the feeding means and operable to periodically move said member to prevent severing coaction of the knife with the sheet during predetermined revolutions of the knife.

10. In combination, a continuous sheet feeding means, sheet severing means including a pair of opposed rolls, a knife carried by one roll for revoluble movements therewith, and movable relative thereto into and out of severing coaction with the other roll and normally standing in sheet severing position with respect to its carrying roll, and means operable to periodically move the knife to inoperative relation to its carrying roll to prevent severing of the sheet, during predetermined revolutions ofthe knife.

11. In combination, a continuous sheet feeding means, a sheet severing means having a pair of opposed rolls, rocker means carried by one roll for revolution therewith and for rocking movements toward and away from its axis, a knife carried by the rocking means for movements therewith into and out of sheet severing relation to the other roll, said rocker means normally acting to hold the knife in severing relation to its roll, a member adapted to have coaction with said rocker means at predetermined points in a revolutiOn thereof and movable to cause a retraction of the knife from severing position, and means for periodically moving the member into and out of retracting relation to the knife.

12. In combination a continuous sheet feeding means, a pair of rolls between which the sheet feeds, a sheet severing member movably carried by one roll for revolution therewith and for movements relative thereto into and out of sheet severing position, and means automatically operable to act on the member during predetermined revolutions thereof to move it to inoperative position with respect to its roll and at other predetermined revolutions thereof to permit the member to have sheet severing coaction with the other roll.

13. In combination, a sheet feeding means, a sheet severing member mounted at one side of the feeding sheet for revoluble movements and for movements toward and from its axis of revolution into and out of sheet severing position, a rocker member adapted when in one position of its rocking movements to engage the severing means and move it from sheet severing position during a portion of its revolution, and means operable to impart predetermined rocking movements to the member.

14. In combination, a continuous sheet feeding means, a revoluble sheet severing means intermittently movable into sheet severing position, means for feeding the severed sections, a movable member operable to coact with the severing means to prevent severing of the sheet except at predetermined revolutions of the means, and also operable to render the section feeding means inoperative except for a predetermined period after each severing operation, and means operable to impart predetermined movements to the movable member.

15. Sheet feeding and severing mechanism comprising, sheet feeding means, sheet severing means including a pair of opposed rolls movable at a greater peripheral speed than that at which the sheet is fed and a severin' knife carried by one roll movable into an out of severing relation to the other roll with which it coacts to sever the sheet, and automatically operating means permitting the severing means to sever the sheet only during one of a predetermined number of successive movements of said severing means into severing position.

16. Sheetfeeding and severing mechanism as claimed in claim 15, characterized by means for feeding the severed sections of 3 the sheet away fromthe severing position at an increased speed with respect to the feeding of the sheet.

17. Sheet feeding and severing mechanism as claimed in claim 15, characterized in that the automatically operating means comprises a membermovable toward the axis of the revoluble knife carrying roll to holdthe knife in inoperative positlon and movable from the axis of said knife carrying roll to permit the knife to be projected outwardly into osition to sever the sheet.

18. Sheet feeding and severing mechanism comprising sheet feeding means, sheet severing means-including a pair of opposed rolls movable at a greater peripheral speed than that at which the sheet is fed and a severing knife carried by one roll movable into and out of severing relation to the other roll with which it coacts to sever the sheet, automatically operating means permitting the severing means to sever the sheet only during one of a predetermined number of successive movements of said severing means into severing position, and means for feeding the severed sections of the sheet away from the severing position at an increased speed with respect to the feeding of the sheet, said automatically operating means beingadapted to render the section feeding means inoperative, excepting for a predetermined period immediately following each severing operation. I

In testimony whereof we have hereunto signed our names to this specification.

JOHN P. ALDRICH. HOWARD A. MORRIS. 

